Always hungry, never sated.

Bomba Downstairs

I definitely did not expect the warm and inviting atmosphere when I walked into Bomba – I thought it would be another loud, messy pub/bar type atmosphere where it would take aeons to be served a drink. I was very pleasantly wrong, the menu was tantalising and the bar staff helpful and friendly.

And complimentary bread!

The Salmorejo with egg and smoked bacon ($5.5) is similar to the cold tomato Gazpacho, and this version had a nice sweet note combined with smoked salty bacon bits throughout. The overall taste was nice and tart, whilst being refreshing and cooling.

The Kingfish tartare with seaweed cracker & pickled cucumber ($16.5) was quite plain. I believe there was slightly too much curing in the citrus, and so the fish was not as fresh and sweet as I’d hoped. But the seaweed crackers were delicious! I don’t believe this one was worth the price.

Leek & manchego croqueta ($3.5) was nice and cheesy and tasty, whilst the Oxtail croqueta ($3.5) was dry and plain.

I wasn’t particularly fond of these Hervey Bay scallops with Serrano migas and lemon ($6.0 each) – I found them too salty, the scallop too dry and the crumble around it didn’t add anything to the taste.

Quail with pistachio and buckwheat ($6.5) is a difficult bird to enjoy; there are a lot of bones and between them, very minimal meat. It’s a big thing when a restaurant attempts quail. Bomba flavoured the bird really well, and I liked the pistachio and buckwheat on the outside, but not enough to go through the fiddly again.

These morsels on spanish corn meal toast were probably my favourites of the night. The Tortilla with paprika aioli on toast ($4.5) was amazing, the creamy spicy aioli (that usually covers patatas bravas) with the perfect mix of tasty cheese, egg and potato. Delicious.

Next was the Tomato, Burrata & aged sherry vinegar toast + hand filleted Nassari anchovy ($4.5 + 2.5). The anchovy was delightfully salty, but small compared to the smooth layer of creamy boncconci cheese and salsa.

Finally, the Fried Mussel and walnut tarrator on toast ($5.0) which was great because 1.) fried and 2.) tarrator is like a nutty mayo.

The Charcoal grilled 5+ score Wagyu Rump Cap with mojo verde & horseradish ($26.0) took a while to get out but when it did, it was pretty smashing and well worth the wait. The horseradish was subtle and the rump cap was cooked really well, so it melted easily in your mouth.

Onto the dessert. Fresh figs, goat curd foam and vanilla bean ice cream ($12.0) was an interesting dessert, mainly due to the strange tang of the goat curd foam. The vanilla ice cream was high quality and creamy, but because the figs were fresh and earthy the dish wasn’t very cohesive, I would’ve liked the figs caramelised and sweeter aka the unhealthy option.

I had no idea what a Turron Parfait ($10.0) was, so I thought this dessert was going to be boring and plain but WOW. It blew me away. It was a heavy creamy cold parfait (almost like a dense block of cream ice-cream), but sweet and covered with crunchy balls of sweetness. I dug it, a lot. A fantastic finish to the meal.